Pitman’s late game errors cost game

A late seventh inning rally from Atwater saw two runs scored to put the Falcons up by two against Pitman High as the defense kept cool in the next half inning and the game ended in a 5-3 home loss for the Pride.

After Friday’s loss, Pitman has now lost in back-to-back Central California Conference matchups against the Falcons, including seven errors, after a 6-2 outing on Wednesday. The Pride are currently hold an 8-5 overall record that includes a 3-3 posting in the CCC.

“Like all games, and on the previous game on Wednesday, Atwater capitalized on mistakes made by us; they are very well-rounded squad,” Pitman head coach John Acha said.

Atwater was up 3-2 after the third inning, and it wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that Pitman would tie the game at 3-3 when Jordan Aguiniga managed to drive in Drew Lewis, after he reached base safely due to an Atwater error.

The game remained tied until the seventh inning when the Falcons’ Vic Tiscareno RBI singled to drive in Noah Torres followed by an Omar Sanchez RBI single to score Torres.

“Atwater capitalized on some pitches that were left up and they hit well and we also tried to force too much instead of guys trying to stay within ourselves,” Acha said.

In his first start this season, sophomore Matt Carrigg had a spectacular outing with 6 and a 1/3 innings to show for it while he struck out 11 in the process, but unfortunately he picked up the loss for the Pride.

The Pride looked to grind it out any way they could, however, they only managed five hits along with four errors.

“We were getting some guys in scoring position but just couldn’t get it in, in the end we just came up short with that one hit we were missing,” Acha said. “It just goes back to practice and making sure we stick to the fundamentals.”

Next for the Pride will be another CCC contest on Tuesday at Merced with the game set to start at 4 p.m.

“Everyone I think is going to be in that playoff chase till the end. There are a lot of good teams that are similar, so who’s to say; we can have a good strong week next week,” Acha added.